Saturday, January 31, 2015

Slavery in the UK was abolished by an act of Parliament in
1833, and with the exceptions of territories in the possession of the East
India Company, the Island of Ceylon and the Island of St Helena it was illegal
to ‘own’ a slave, or indeed to enslave anyone. Many slaves were abducted from
their countries of origin and sold to those who exploited them for whatever purposes
their ‘owners’ deemed fit.

There is a marked difference between a slave and a mistress.
A slave is ‘owned’, but a mistress offers her services willingly. A slave may
not be paid or paid very little for his labour, but generally a
mistress will receive favours from the one with whom she has a relationship.
More often than not there will be a sexual element to the association.

I must state that I’ve never had a real mistress, nor have I ‘owned’ a slave, and there is no way my
wife would ever allow me to treat her as slave; furthermore, I do not 'own' her, but I do have a secret that everyone who reads this blog
knows about. Now that statement contains
a misnomer, because a secret is not a
secret if the subject is commonly known. However, I’ve had many mistresses in
the form of waterborne vessels, mostly with sails and nearly all of them pretty
to look at.

My most recent mistress was ‘Minnow’. She was not the
prettiest, but she had many fine attributes. Note the past tense, which indicates
that our union is no more, because she has been pledged to another. To the best
of my knowledge she is not being sold into slavery, but she willingly goes with
an expectation of a relationship akin to that of a mistress, i.e., she will be
favoured, pampered and maintained.

From the foregoing, you can take it that ‘Minnow’ has been sold and that she is no longer
available for purchase.

Friday, January 30, 2015

This morning I woke up to find a blanket of snow over the
ground, which was a bit unfortunate, because I had agreed to have an enquirer look
at ‘Minnow’ with a view to possibly buying her. As he was coming all the way
from Blakeney in north Norfolk, I didn’t want him to be disappointed by not
being able to see her in the open. However, commonsense and courtesy told me
that I should text him to explain that I was not prepared to take the boat out
of the garage, and accordingly I advised him not to come. I sent two messages, but
I did not receive a reply; therefore I assumed he was not coming.

How wrong I was! At the appointed time of his planned arrival
he knocked on the door. Completely unprepared, I led him to the garage where he
found ‘Minnow’ as she was, in her state of hibernation. He was very contented
for me to leave him to explore the boat before asking questions to clarify a
few points. I felt apologetic about not being able to take ‘Minnow’ outside for
him to step the mast and to play with her rig, but he assured me that under the
circumstances it would not be appropriate.

As is usual with prospective buyers, he said he wanted to
think things over before deciding whether to make an offer. I am therefore
waiting to hear from him.

*Meanwhile, if there are any other interested persons, please
get in touch by phoning or texting me on my mobile: 07588288060. The first to
make an acceptable offer and to place a 10% deposit with a guarantee to
complete full payment within a fortnight will have her. She can be left in my
garage until the spring, if that is what you would want. I am happy to deliver
her on her trailer to any location within a hundred miles radius of Hockley,
Essex, free of charge, and beyond that for an agreed payment to cover my costs.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Here we have another development of the Mirage range of
yachts by Thames Marine. You’ll note that the 2700’s deck has been raised
higher than the Mirage 28’s deck by the addition of a lip around the entire
moulding. Apart from that she’s similar to the Mirage 28, but shorter by more
than a foot on account of her stern being truncated and the transom being more
upright. The upper moulding and a lower profile cabin trunk of the 2700 account
for both boats having the same headroom of 6’. The fin keel version has more
draught than the 28.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

There are loads of these Mirage 28 yachts for sale. At
Apolloduck* alone, there are a dozen at the time of uploading this short
article.

Designed by David Feltham, the Mirage 28 is a solid, well
constructed Thames Marine production boat. A masthead GRP twin keel sloop, she
is like a much larger version of Thames Marine’s first successful yacht, the
Snapdragon 23**, and of course, her accommodation is more commodious. With
standing headroom throughout, and five berths, a full galley complete with
stove, and a separate toilet, she is very comfortable. The heads compartment is
accessible, both from the forward cabin and the saloon. There’s a quarter berth
for the skipper and a ‘v’ berth for the kids or guests up forward.

All in all,
she looks like an able coastal cruiser that could also be competitive in club
handicap racing. If the going gets tough her inboard diesel will help reassure
her crew they will make it back home by Sunday night, so as to be able to start
work on Monday morning.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

On my wanderings at Hullbridge I have often seen this
colourful day boat. She’s one of those old wooden vessels you can’t fail to
notice on account of being so very different from the normal plastic grot with
little character. There’s no other boat like her, at least, not at Hullbridge. She’ll
always have a flag fluttering from the rigging, which speaks an invitation to passers-by,
“Come, look and enjoy.”

Monday, January 26, 2015

While on a recent walk I found myself counting support
struts on alloy car wheels without giving any real thought to why. All of a
sudden I noticed a wheel that had 7 supports, and instinctively this didn’t
seem right. As I continued my walk I discovered there were other cars having
wheels with 7 struts. The rim of a circular wheel can be divided into equal parts
equivalent to 360 degrees. Now, as you
know, 7 cannot be divided equally into 360 to produce a whole number. In fact
it produces a decimal number of 51.4285714. This got me thinking about the
versatility of the number 360, since it can be divided by every number from 1
to 10 with the exception of 7 to produce whole numbers. 360 also has 24
divisors.

As a navigator familiar with a 360 degree compass I wondered
what was special about the number. Why had it been chosen and adopted worldwide?
Why wasn’t there a metric compass? After all, almost everywhere, metric has
become the standard means of measuring distances, volumes and weights, why not
degrees?

The metric system was developed in France at the time of the
French Revolution. The length of a metre was one ten-millionth of the distance
between the North Pole and the Equator on a meridian passing through Paris. For
determining latitude by a meridian sun sight a ship’s navigator could have done
so with an instrument calibrated in decimal degrees, assuming latitudes marked
on his chart were also in decimal degrees. Decimal degrees are known as grads
or a dons, and as there are 100 of them to a right angle, there are 400 in a
complete revolution equating to 360 standard degrees.

Historically, commonsense prevailed in consideration that
there are approximately 365 days comprising a year in which the earth revolves
around its own axis 365 times. On an approximation that a year is equivalent
to 360 days of 24 hours each, the earth moves about one degree a day around the
ecliptic. Hence we have the magic number of 360 degrees. This conveniently allows for 24
time zones of 15 degrees of longitude per hour. A day can be divided into 24
hours, each of which can be subdivided into 60 minutes, each of which can be subdivided into
60 seconds. Degrees of longitude similarly are divided into 60 minutes that can
be subdivided into 60 seconds. In this digital age, more commonly minutes and seconds of longitude and latitude are represented numerically as decimals, e.g., 1 degree 30 seconds becomes 1.5 degrees.

In view of the fact that designers of cars rely heavily on
computer aided design I should not be surprised that some car wheels
have 7 struts incorporated into their alloy wheel mouldings, and perhaps I
should take more note of the digital compass on my Lowrance Expedition GPS.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

This is an early Snapdragon yacht built by Thames Marine of
Canvey Island, Essex, after the firm, known as Thames Structural Plastics,
moved from Rayleigh in 1962.

Snapdragon 23s were built with different hull options: with
a centreboard or with a long shallow keel or with triple keels. This one at
Hullbridge is a three keel version. Bearing in mind she must be over 50 years
old, she looks remarkably clean and well preserved.

Apart from sitting headroom only, she is a very functional
yacht. Her furling headsail and lazy jacks must have been added in more recent
times. Note that she has an adjustable solar panel fitted to a staff on her
starboard quarter, setting it clear of the backstay and topping lift. She has a
tabernacle for raising and lowering her mast. There’s a boom claw for attaching
the kicking strap. The teak Samson post is excellent for securing mooring and
anchor lines, and her mast is well supported by having three shrouds either
side, in addition to a backstay and a furling forestay.

I have some affection for this style of yacht, since they
were produced in the 1960s when I dearly would have bought one if I could. I thought
these new-fangled GRP boats were
ultra-modern and chic. Such a yacht was
well beyond my reach as a young teacher earning barely more than £500 a year. Instead, I acquired a second-hand Torbay Class
2 Racer* for little money. She was my first ‘proper’ yacht.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

In October, 2010 I did an article about the Snapdragon 747.* There are subtle differences between her and the earlier Snapdragon 24. The 747’s
rig was modified by having a higher aspect ratio mainsail than the 24's. She also had
2 Genoas, the number one being 40 sq ft larger than the single Genoa of the 24.
The rudder was redesigned, for what reason I do not know. I also think the 747’s windows were more angular with sharper corners. (Compare photos above.)

Both models were built by Thames Marine of Canvey Island in the
early 1960s. It is much to their credit by way of construction with heavy lay-up
GRP that these boats are still active and giving service to their owners today.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Alan F. Platt, an Essex boatbuilder, designed and built both
the Finesse 21 and the Finesse 24. The larger Finesse 27 was also built by
Platt, but she was designed by Maurice Griffiths – that’s according to Sailboat
Data.com.

I have here two grainy photos of a Finesse 24 moored on a
mud berth at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. A friend of mine, who has sailed one, says
she was not much cop to windward, but I doubt owners of these shallow draught
wooden cruising yachts are too fussed about performance on the wind. If they
find the wind is contrary, they will be happy to sheet in the main, roll up the
jib, and let the reliable Yanmar diesel engine help out. When they arrive back
on the mooring they will be comforted by the warmth of her varnished saloon that
is fitted with a four-seat dinette and a generous galley.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

I suppose you could visit many a creek, club or marina in
Kent, Essex and Suffolk, and you would find boats that appear to have been abandoned.
Many of these weather-beaten, dirt-scarred vessels will actually belong to
owners who can no longer upkeep them. They may not have the time, energy,
enthusiasm or wherewithal to do so. They would love to find buyers, but because
of the depressed market, they cannot sell them. Mooring or lay-up facilities may
not have been paid, so by default the owners are in danger of having their
boats legally confiscated by those to whom dues are owed.

When I recently paid a visit to Leigh-on-Sea to find a
Golant Gaffer that was for sale, I was amazed at the number of uncared for
boats there were lying around in Leigh Creek and at two local clubs, Belton Way
Smallcraft Club and Leigh Motor Boat Club.

Now is the time for anyone who wants a project boat. With a
little research, their owners may be found and bargains struck. Ideally, you
will want to have your ‘prize’ brought home for quick and easy access. You should
take into account the costs of transport to your place and back to the water.
Work out what has to be done and how much cash will be required to do the
job. Bear in mind the annual costs of keeping and using her.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

This is a short note to remind readers that ‘Minnow’ is
still for sale. A number of people have expressed an interest in her, and some
have pledged to buy her.

It is at this time of year that aspiring sailors plan the
season ahead, and in a few weeks, those who are without boats will be looking
to acquire ones suitable for them – boats that meet their budget, and
preferably ready to go – no work necessary. ‘Minnow’ is such a boat.

If you are considering single-handed micro-cruising, then she
might be up your street, or more to the point, you want to do a spot of shallow
water sailing, perhaps along the coast, or in and out of estuaries, or even
exploring the Broads. Her mast can be unshipped in a jiffy, and she has
auxiliary power in the form of a Honda 2 HP four stroke outboard. (No oil mix
required)

Realize that for offers in the region of £2,900 you can have
absolutely everything - the boat with her road trailer, and all gear for
cruising, including her GPS units and Autohelm 800.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

I have been forced into accepting that if I am to upload
photos to my blog I shall have to do so by using Chrome or Firefox. I am able
to open Chrome for every upload, but it’s an extra step that has to be added to
the process. Therefore I am still hopeful that Google will come up with a
solution for people like me who prefer Internet Explorer as their default
Operating System.

You will find that I have been
able to supply missing photos to previous articles.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Behind the scenes a number of us Bloggers have been posting
to the Blogger Help Forum with the aim of trying to solve a recent problem of
not being able to upload photos to our blogs.It has been reported that if we change our Operating Systems to Google, all
will be hunky-dory. We can then upload our photos with no problems!

That leaves us with choices – to change or not to change or
to wait for a solution.

It seems to me that we are being held to ransom. This should
not be the case. It is my contention that Google should live up to its moral
responsibility and sort the mess out.

Not everyone will be happy changing their computer’s operating
systems. I happen to like the one I have, which is Windows Explorer 9. It’s the
one I am familiar with, and apart from my Apple mini iPad and iPhone, I have
always used Windows-based systems.

Big players such as Google, Microsoft and Apple are forever
trying to expand their empires by ‘capturing’ more and more cyberspace users.
The more they can enslave us by keeping us in their clutches, the happier they
are. They learn all they can about us; then they bombard us with advertisements
tailored to our interests. The more mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop
computers that rely on their Operating Systems, the more revenue they stand to
gain. Facebook and Twitter and other social media providers increasingly do the
same, while we lose more and more of our personal privacy because of their
relentless spying.

Choices widen. Do we accept and resign ourselves to the fact
that our personal privacy is being eroded? Do we believe we are being
exploited? Do we want the whole world to have access to every aspect of our
lives? If we opt out of Cyberspace we stand to lose what can be gained by
access to it – an almost infinite knowledge base, innumerable opportunities for
buying online, opportunities for expressing our opinions to a wide audience and
rapid communication with anyone anywhere in the world. In these times, the
benefits seem to favour opting in.

We might get choked up now and again, as I am with not being
able to post photos to Bills-Log unless I change to a Google OS, but that’s
part of the price I might have to pay. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
There’s always a cost. We all have to pay for the tune.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Please bear with me. As you’ve gathered, I have had problems
trying to upload photos to the blog. This is very serious, because I am heavily
reliant upon photos for illustrating the contents.

Yesterday and today I sent ‘feedback’ to Google who now own
and operate Blogger.com. Hopefully, they will get back to me with a solution.
If a solution isn’t forthcoming, I shall have to consider archiving the blog
and starting a new one, perhaps with Wordpress.com.

Such an action would be very regrettable, because I’ve had a
lot of satisfaction over several years blogging with Blogger.com and I would
like to continue the relationship.

If there are any experienced bloggers who may be able to
help, I would very much appreciate it. The only official course of action is to
ask questions at the Blogger Forum. There are no phone lines, texting
facilities or email links to Blogger technicians.

Here’s what happens when I attempt uploading a photo:

I go through the normal process of opening a photo to the
Blogger platform; then a pop-up appears at the bottom of the computer screen
with the words, ‘Do you want to open or
save resumable (1.56 KB) from www.blogger.com?’ I then have the option
of clicking: ‘Open’, ‘Save’, ‘Save as’, or ‘Open’. Whatever option I choose, it
makes no difference – nothing happens.

Where a thumbnail of the photo to be uploaded normally
appears, there is a blank square with a small cross in the bottom right-hand
corner. The cross indicates a failed attempt at uploading. If I click the
cross, a pop-up appears with the words, ‘Lost connection to server’.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

My computer is a Dell Studio laptop that I have had for
several years. Now and again I change the wallpaper to stimulate interest and
pretend I have a new computer. Mostly I choose backgrounds portraying marine
scenes. These are nearly always original photographs taken by me. My cameras
are not sophisticated. I have a Sony Cyber-shot 7.2 Mega Pixels camera and my
iPhone 4S which I mostly use.

Professional photographers always do a better job than me.
They know their craft, and they have specialist equipment; therefore I like
having their photos as backgrounds.

Yacht Racing Images of
the Year presented by Mirabaud, turn up some corkers. Quite often they are action
packed, which is not so good for wallpapers, since saved folders can be
difficult to find amongst the clutter of visual imagery. Sadly, I cannot
reproduce any of the Mirabaud collection here, because they are all copyrighted,
but you can click the first link below to see them.

You are free to use my original photos set out above for
wallpapers, but they remain copyrighted to me, and they should not be copied or
reproduced for commercial purposes. [This would be the case if I could upload them!]

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Out of curiosity I paid a visit to Leigh-on-Sea to discover
if I could locate the Golant Gaffer for sale that was listed on yesterday’s
blog. I noticed she was at Leigh Motorboat Club, which is about a quarter
of a mile up Leigh Creek, beyond Belton Way Small Craft Club.

I couldn’t find unobstructed views of the yacht, but I was
able to read her name on the transom, i.e., ‘Blue Goose’.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

These yachts are advertised for sale at Apolloduck.co.uk
today, 13th January, 2015. Links to them may shortly become defunct,
but photos copied from the adverts will remain here - by courtesy of Apolloduck.co.uk
and their advertisers.

I’ve chosen these lovely yachts because they are of interest
to me, not that I have money to buy them, but because I like them. The most
expensive, at £65,000, is an Alan Pape modern rendering in steel of an 1895
Looe Lugger. The cheapest, a beautiful Tumlare designed by Kund Reimer of Sweden,
is a favourite. I first learned of Tumlares when reading Adlard Coles’ ‘Heavy
Weather Sailing’, in which he describes surviving a gale aboard one in the
English Channel.

Another of my favourites is Uffa Fox’s Fairey Atalanta. Two are
available at Apolloduck, but the one featured here does not reveal the asking
price.

The Golant Gaffer is rather special on account of her hull
being built by a professional for himself, but for reasons unknown, he did
not finish her. The current owner completed her to a high standard, and she’s
only been in commission for two seasons. You need but look at the photos to
appreciate the quality of workmanship. If I had the cash, this would be the boat for me , and furthermore she’s virtually on my doorstep at Leigh-on-Sea!